Raising Flowers By Hand
by sniperocker123
Summary: "The first lesson every child of Athena learned: Mom was the best at everything, and you should never, ever suggest otherwise." Witches, werewolves, vampires, love.
1. Chapter 1

**Everything belongs to SM. **

* * *

**EPOV**

"I don't want to go Alice," I whined in that whiney tone we both knew and hated.

Honestly though, she was right. I _was_ being difficult. In my defense though, I had a good, partly valid reason for turning her down. While I enjoyed playing ball with my family, I was really not feeling like it today. Probably because I knew how amorous all of them were feeling, what with Jasper's projection of his own emotions.

"Edward, please. I've seen you having fun. Please, please, please," Alice pouted and gave me her patented puppy dog stare. I sighed in resignation. I was putty in her capable hands and the psychic pixie knew it.

"Thank youuu. I promise you'll have fun. Maybe I'll even let you win," Alice giggled and skipped out of my room. I stared at her retreating form, trying to figure out exactly what was up with her.

_I'm like the ring leader, I call the shots. I'm like a fire-cracker; I make it hot when I put on a show..._

I sighed and tuned her out. Alice forever sang Britney Spears in her head to hide her thoughts from me. I tried to tame my hair as I got ready, but quickly gave up. In a flash I was in front of my family.

Carlisle, Esme Jazz, Alice and I got in Emmett's monster Jeep while Emmett and Rose got in Rosalie's M3. When I asked why, Emmett simply gave me his 'evil-genie' smile and I almost gagged at his mental image of his wife and himself christening the seats of the M3. I quickly started the Jeep after that and stepped on the gas while Emmett started to laugh continuously from the garage.

Needless to say, Rosalie and Emmett reached the clearing about a hour and a half after we did. Sated and downright disgusting.

"It's time people!" Alice called out. Just then thunder and lightning decided to grace us with their presence.

Halfway into the game, everyone froze, and I knew why. There was a foreign scent blowing in from the east, precisely where Jasper was standing, but there was no panic in his thoughts. It was due to the scent. It was...different. Very sweet but not enough of it to test anyone's control; there was just no appeal.

"Who is it Alice? Why didn't you see?" Esme asked, voice laced with concern for her family and also, I guessed, for the unknown in-comers. It was just like Esme to worry about complete strangers.

"Oh, I did mom," Alice announced with a smile while Esme internally rejoiced at being called 'mom'.

"You'll see. And they're no danger to us, I swear."

That's when they walked in. There were two of them, both girls, one blond the other a brunette. The blond was wary at seeing seven vampires in a defensive position. She should be, but not the brunette; not an ounce of worry on her face. I scanned their thoughts but I couldn't read either of their minds. Great. Just great.

But the greatest question of them all was:

What were they?

I could smell their blood and hear their heart beating but there was just something I couldn't quite place my finger on. I glanced towards the blond and noticed she was dressed casually though-blue jeans and a white flannel shirt.

When I turned to look at the brunette, I gasped. Her heart-shaped face and lush mahogany hair were sure giving her a girlish charm, but there was something about her that made her look older for her years. She too, was dressed in jeans and a shirt but she was just so beautiful that I couldn't quite tear my eyes away from her face. As soon as I had thought this, she turned to look at me and gave me a heartbreakingly beautiful smile, like she could hear my thoughts.

Could she?

She gave me another smile clearly meaning that she could. Crap.

But very clearly, I, the mind reader couldn't read the minds of the two newcomers and it was really scaring me. Never before had anybody, human or otherwise, blocked me like this. But the brown-haired beauty just continued to smile.

Okay, now this was just plain irritating. Well it was intriguing in case of the brunette but I was annoyed all the same.

"Bella." Jasper whispered reverently from beside me.

_Bella? Yes she sure looks like her, but it can't be. Of course it can't. She died a year after I was turned. Oh God, It looks like it's her. Please let it be her. Please._

"Jazz? It's me, Bella," the brunette Goddess whispered softly.

Bella. Beautiful. How fitting.

"Oh god, darlin' it's you!" Jasper cried. And with that, Bella ran the remaining 50 yards or so with astounding grace and pounced on Jasper. They both fell to the ground with a huff.

The not-so-human girl was still embracing my oh-so-vampire brother and both were crying. Well dry-sobbing in Jasper's case, but the emotion remained. The others mirrored my expression of disbelief except Alice. Alice looked down at the two and frowned, and Bella immediately got up, fixed her hair and ran to Alice, her frown immediately dropped and in its place was a goofy grin which looked like it was here to stay. Bella hugged Alice and Alice embraced her back with all the strength that she could until,

"Ow, Bella," Alice exclaimed rubbing her chest.

"Careful, Bella," her blond companion muttered angrily.

"Sorry Danii, Alice," Bella said as she pulled away from Alice with an apologetic smile.

"These are the infamous Cullen's, huh?" Bella asked as Alice nodded enthusiastically.

Her gazed crossed each one of us until finally it stopped on me. I might have died.


	2. Chapter 2

**EPOV**

"Lets go home, Bella," Jasper breathed, winding his arm around her and smiling at his sister. I felt a prickle of the-emotion-that-shall-not-be-named run down my spine.

"I don't know Jasper..." Bella trailed off, turning to look at her companion, Danii. She immediately started to panic.

"Oh shit, Bella, we're not supposed to go to their house, Chris would kill us! Please, Bells, think of what could happen. It's not safe," Danii begged.

Bella looked undecided as she turned to look at her brother's face, which was contorted in pain.

_Of course it's not safe. This is my own sister. Obviously I'm not the safest person for her to be around_.

"No, no, no Jasper. She didn't mean it's not safe for me, she meant not safe for your family and yourself. Oh jeez, I didn't even introduce myself yet. God, if mum were here, she'd think I was raised by a pack of wolves," Bella rambled.

"Forgive me," she said aloud turning to look at all of us. "I'm Isabella Whitlock-Swan by the way, but please call me Bella. I'm Jasper's sister, biological sister. Look, I know you're all super freaked about what we are, and why our blood smells funny and how Jasper's supposed biological sister could be alive. I can tell you that I know what you guys are and trust me when I say that I'd love to explain to you people what I am, but not yet. Anyways, I'll come over to your house later in the evening and explain everything...if that's okay?"

Carlisle spoke then up, "Yes, it's alright Bella. Please do whatever it takes to ensure your own safety. Don't worry about us, we will wait. But I think it would be best if we introduce ourselves, don't you think?" Bella nodded and gestured for us to start.

"I am Carlisle and this is my wife Esme," he said pointing towards Esme, who was smiling at Bella. Bella gave a small wave.

"Emmett and his wife Rosalie," Carlisle continued the introductions.

"Well you know me," Alice piped in, excitedly.

"How on earth can I forget you? You're my psychic sister-in-law and my brother there is…" Bella paused, closing her eyes. "An empath?"

Jasper nodded warily. Bella looked at him for a split second and then burst out laughing.

"I'm sorry," she said wiping the tears that had escaped her eyes during her laughing fit. "I just never suspected my brother would be an emo-bitch, you know," she said. At that, Jasper glared at her while she just continued to giggle.

"What's your name?" Danii looked at me.

"Edward," I replied.

"Edward," Bella breathed out, almost reverently. I turned to see her staring at me wistfully, but there was something else in her eyes.

Danii spoke up again-effectively ending my staring contest with Bella. "Bells we should go."

Bella nodded at her and turned to us.

"I'll see you guys at your house. Okay, now about that, I'm going to ask Carlisle to extend his hand and I'm going to place my hand in his. I'll then I'll search for the directions to your house in his mind, through his memories. Is that okay with you, Carlisle?" she asked him while he nodded, confused.

_She doesn't look like she'll harm us. If she had, to she would have done it by now, right? It shouldn't hurt to give her directions to our house. I wonder if her gift is similar to Aro's. Maybe I should ask her..._

Carlisle placed his hand in hers and she immediately closed her eyes. For a moment all was quiet, until Bella opened her eyes and smiled.

"Well I know how to find you now. So we'll be there, no worries. Until then," she said. Bella touched Jasper's arm and then started to walk up to me. I'm sure if I were human, my heart would've been going 100 miles an hour. She came up to me and gently wrapped her arms around my neck and pecked my cheek lightly.

"I'll miss you most," she said in my ear and I shivered. Funny, because I was a vampire and vampires are supposed to be colder than ice. And suddenly she just vanished into the air, I turned around to see Danii had gone too.

"No fuckin' way in hell," Emmett croaked out.

"I think we should head home children, don't you think?" Esme managed out, after a moment of silence, thoroughly shaken. And then she turned to me and smiled.

_I always knew there'd be one for you, Edward. You know how it goes, son. Mother knows best._

"I don't even know her mom," I said and started to run. I would have been blushing if I could. Bella. My Bella. It sounded...right. I smiled to myself.

Once inside the house, everyone started to get anxious. Everyone except Alice.

"Will you people please tell me what's gotten into you guys?" she asked. That was it for Jasper's patience. He stopped pacing and stopped right in front of Alice, eyes wild.

"Well my sister, who ought to have been dead for—oh, I don't know—150 years is alive. Not that I mind but guess what, she's one of the supernatural. I can't manipulate or even get a read into her emotions, you clearly cannot look into her future and Edward can't read her mind. She comes, tells us she's workin' out things for the safety of 7 mature vampires, tells Edward that she'll miss him most and vanishes into thin air. That's right-vanishes into the air. You still wanna what's gotten me worried, Alice?" Jasper almost shouted at Alice in the end while everyone gaped at him with open-mouths. Jasper never had a nervous breakdown. Ever. He seemed to realize this at the exact same moment. He could have almost blushed at his little tirade.

"I'm sorry Alice. Forgive me everybody. I shouldn't be taking this out on you but really I'm really scared, you know. She's my little baby sister and she's supposed to dead for a long time but she's here in Forks, crushing on Edward and really secretive. To add to that she's something else entirely," he cried.

"You think we understand this Jasper?" Rosalie huffed angrily. "She said she'd explain so what's wrong with trusting her on that? I think we should wait for her to come and sort things out. I like her, though," Rose added as an after-thought.

"I do, too," I said in a small voice.

"No, no, no, no you don't buddy. You stay the hell away from my sister," Jasper screamed at me.

"We are no-one to make decisions for Bella or Edward, son. Let us not rush this. We will figure out a way to make this work. Be patient, Jasper," Carlisle said placing a gentle hand on his newest son's shoulder while Jasper relaxed.

"But Edward stays away," Jasper said glaring daggers at me.

"Like hell I will Jasper," I growled. Jasper bared his teeth at me and snarled. I knew better though. It was because he was defeated and he knew it. I was hard to convince if I made up my mind. I gave him a smug smile.

A small sigh at the door made us all turn around. Bella was leaning against the door with a goofy grin on her perfect face while Danii was glaring at us, looking like she wanted to be anywhere but here.

But I couldn't quite focus my attention on her. I looked over at Bella who smiled at me and walked to Jasper and gave him a light peck on his cheek. Jasper visibly relaxed.

"It's so cool that two men are fighting over me. If only you weren't my brother, Jasper," she winked.

"So you are gonna tell them everything, huh, Bella? You know they can't be trusted right? B, if you are still interested in saving their lily-white asses then we pack up and we leave. Now," Danii said waving her finger in Bella's face as if Bella was standing right beside her.

"Danii, watch it," Bella said in a warning tone.

"No, B. I went along with whatever you said. No more. What happens when bronze-hair there kills you, huh? You know that there is a huge possibility of that happening if you stay here, don't you?" Danii accused now pointing at me.

I looked down at my feet. It was possible. I'd killed before. It could happen again. Easily.

"Hey," Bella said to me softly, tentatively running her finger through my hair. I closed my eyes at the sensation. "She didn't mean it. You won't kill me. I wouldn't let you," she said with a wink and a smile.

Danii sighed. Apparently Bella wasn't someone you could reason with easily.

"Just promise me you'll be safe," she said her eyes watering. Bella walked upto her and wrapped her tiny arms around her friends' 5 foot 9 frame.

"I promise to be safe. And after this is all done, will you marry me baby?" Bella asked with a teasing glint in her eyes.

"Sure. But what are you gonna do about Eddie-boy there?" Danii asked jerking her chin towards me.

"Maybe we could set him up with Christopher."

"Just be safe ok?" Danii laughed.

Bella laughed and turned to face us, saw our grim faces and sobered immediately. "What the hell are you, woman?" Emmett asked. I was about to reprimand him for speaking that way to my Bella—it felt good to think of her that way—when Bella spoke.

"Im a witch."


	3. Chapter 3

**EPOV**

"I'm a witch," Bella said with a perfect smile on her angelic face.

"A what?," Jasper asked incredulously.

"A witch," Bella's smile grew wider.

"I need to sit down, I think," Esme muttered, her voice trembling.

"I think you all do," Bella said _still _smiling.

"Yes, please," Emmett muttered scratching the back of his head and flopping down on the closest couch.

"I think it would be in everybody's best interests if I give you a ten-minute head start before I start talking again, okay?" Bella said sitting down on the armrest of the chair I was occupying and looking up to smile at me.

I looked up into her brown-colored orbs and saw in that exact moment about Bella being my one true soul-mate. Maybe she was right. But a witch? Was that even real? Not that being a vampire gave me the right of even saying that out loud. But then if she was the one for me then could I take her into my life whatever creature she claimed she was? More importantly- would I?

Yes. Yes, I would. The conviction of my mini-epiphany was strong. I'd take her and I'd make it my life's mission to keep her safe and give her the best life. Did I love her yet? No. It was way to early for that, I guess.

But would it be difficult for me to fall in love with her? Not at all. If I saw myself a week from a week from now, hell if I saw myself a mere two days from now I'd probably see myself completely head over heels for her. And before I could do anything more than smile at her, my angel spoke up.

"Ok, well everyone seems to be calmer now so...Let me cut this to you straight. My being here is a big, big risk. You're not supposed to know about witches, let alone have a poker party with them. So would you be willing to listen to us? Just for some time until we tell you what we have to. Then we can…leave, I guess," she muttered with a hint of sadness in her voice.

"We'll listen to you, and nothing that you say is going hamper the fact that we really want you here, regardless of this danger you seem to be talking about," Carlisle smiled.

"Thank you Carlisle but what about the rest of you? Not to challenge your authority as father of this family but still. I need to know," she said looking around.

_Just tell her that all of us are ok with having her here Edward. I've seen everyone agreeing. Save her the trouble of having to vote, please. _Alice thought.

I nodded in her direction keeping my eyes on Bella. "They're all okay with you here, Bella, more than okay. Don't worry. They want to hear all that you have to say before they come to make a decision," I said to Bella whose smile returned, faltered and fell.

She looked at me warily then. "What about you, Edward? Do you want me here?" she asked softly.

I traced her cheekbones with my fingertips and said, "Bella I think you know the answer to that." Bella smiled wider than she had earlier.

"Bella? Sweetie? Start talking," Danii said in a sugar-sweet but sarcastic voice clearly not having any amount of patience.

Bella laughed-clearly amused at Danii's irritation. I saw Bella clearly then, the slight blush on her cheeks, the graceful arch of her neck, the womanly curves of her torso, her flat stomach and her toned legs. She truly was the most beautiful woman I'd laid my eyes on.

_I'll kill you, Edward. You met her today and all I feel from you is lust and awe? I'll kill you. I'll cut you open and I'll feed you to the dogs._

I ignored Jasper's barely concealed threat and went back to focusing on my Bella. She stood up, touched my arm as she passed by and went to stand in front of all of us. Danii sighed and went to sit on the love-seat.

"So I'm going start with what is on all your minds first, if that's alright. Yes, I'm a witch, no I do not work for Punk'd," she smirked at Emmett. "No, I do not need a wand, no, I do not mutter non-sense Latin words and yes, I can read minds. But I do not want to invade your non-existent privacy so I've shut that out and I can't read your minds for now. Now to get to why I'm really here."

"Eons ago, my...mentor you could say, Valencia was enslaved by Aro from the Volturi. They struck a deal. In exchange for her release she vowed to Aro that all witches would, against their wishes obviously, pledge their immortal asses to vampires in servitude. So-"

"If that's why your here then you need not worry about having an obligation to serve us, dear," Esme interrupted.

"Its not why I'm here, Esme. Just hear me out. So you can deduce pretty easily that witches have always had alliances with vampires. And, no meaning to be rude, but vampires abused this relationship. Like, real bad. This coupled with the fact that witches get pissed real easy, they swore revenge. All hell broke loose. Some witches rebelled against the uprising and tried to protect their vampire masters. But it didn't take too long for the rebellious to be crushed..."

"Aro was...mad would be the understatement of the century. He got to Valencia but she escaped. She was and remains one of the most powerful witches, after all. She went to him herself eventually though, pinned the poor old vamp to the roof and explained the entire thing to him. He agreed to a compromise. But he knew that he could never trust her again. He felt threatened. He started getting crazy, paranoid. He started taking down his own kind. Anyone he felt would side with witches in the very likely event of a war breaking out was eliminated. Slowly, he started going crazy in his thirst for power. But this was all under the table business. On the outside, he maintained a cool and composed facade."

"Carlisle, you've lived with the Volturi for almost 4 decades. You know him. And quite tragically, he knows you too. He feels threatened by your family. Besides the Volturi, yours' the largest gathering of fully mature vampires. But that's not what really scares him. You see, you are a family and not a mere coven. Now you must realize that this fact is your greatest ally in times of trouble like these. What is also important for you to know is that some witches, power-hungry witches, sided with the Volturi in this mass killing of innocent vampires."

"Where do I come in all of this? Mine is the offense department, really. I don't do defense. But I will defend your family. Because, if you being the higher evolved species can respect humans, then those scumbags can too. I'm a 180 years almost and all my witch years have been spent training for this. That I was assigned to protect your family was a happy coincidence. I will never regret coming here though. Not ever. The Volturi and those crazy-ass witches do not know I'm here and I'd like it to stay that way. That is our only element of surprise. But one thing is pretty damn clear – the Volturi will stop at nothing to kill this particular family."

"So you're saying there's absolutely no way that they'll stop and listen? I mean we can convince them somehow, right?" Rosalie asked looking at Bella.

"No, Rosalie. Absolutely not. Trust me I tried with the talking thingy. But the little bastard would not listen. No. Instead what does he do? He tries to kill me. Wow. That goes so far in saying that he actually wants to talk to me," Bella said, her irritation for Aro evident in her voice.

"He tried to kill you? Aro?" I asked angrily? I could only see red in my vision and my fingers started to tremble with the effort of keeping them from going around someone's neck. Aro would die for this.

"Yes. But he clearly failed, Edward, its okay. We're good. See I'm fine," Bella said soothingly and at that I had to relax.

Danii got up then and stretched. Bella yawned at that precise moment too. It was so perfectly coordinated that it was almost comical.

"Well I'm gonna call it a day. We'll be here first thing tomorrow morning and explain exactly how we plan to go about your...um, problem. Until then take care and...yea, I guess I'll see you guys tomorrow," Bella cast a quick look at Jasper and me.

"No, Bella you have to stay here. Both of you," Esme said in her motherly yet authoritative tone.

"Thank you so much Esme but it's really not advisable since there are people looking for me and -" Bella started.

"Bella, Danii, Alice will show you both around the house and then you can both choose whichever room or rooms you would like to occupy, ok?" Esme said cutting through Bella like she hadn't said anything.

"There's no point arguing, is there?" a very defeated looking Bella asked a very grinning Jasper.

"Nope. None at all," Jasper replied.

"Ok, then. I'll just go collect my stuff from our hotel and -"

"It's all taken care of Bella. I'll speak to your hotel and they'll have your clothes and your car sent over here in no time," Alice replied confidently.

"You have a car?" Rosalie asked Bella, her interest evident in her tone.

"Yup. Porsche 911 Turbo. And guess what?" Bella asked leaning towards the two girls.

"What," they asked in unison.

"It's yellow," Bella whispered conspitorially.

Alice and Rosalie both squealed in such a high-pitched tone that if my ears could've bled, then they surely would've.

"If I knew this is what your response would have been, I would've driven it here right now and you could've taken her for a drive right now. But alas, that's gotta wait till tomorrow," Bella sighed.

"Wait what? We get to drive? Ahhhh,"Alice squealed. Danii looked at my sisters one time and then started laughing and shaking her head at them. I looked at her and smiled whereas when she looked at me she just glowered. I might have cringed a little.

"How about this. First thing tomorrow morning we give them the keys to your car and I'll go with the girls explaining the same stuff you do to the guys here. That way you can spend time with Jasper and...whoever it is you wanna socialize with," Danii suggested, glaring at me during the last part of her statement.

"Sure thing," Bella said frowning at Danii, apparently having noticed her glaring at me.

"Or we could all stay here together like a big happy family and Bella could spend all her time with her older brother, yea?" Jasper asked in his last attempt to keep Bella away from me.

Alice, Rosalie and I all glared at him. "Or not..." he muttered looking at our expressions.

"Ok, so well I'm gonna move my ass from here and drop it on the bed, ok?" Danii said.

"I'll show you both around," Alice squealed.

_She's a great girl, Edward. And I'm happy you both seem to like each other. You truly deserve happiness, son. _Carlisle thought.

_She might be my sister, Edward but you're my brother too. So please take care of her. She looks like she's been through a lot, man. She might be older than you, in a way but she clearly needs someone to watch out for her too. _Jasper.

I dipped my head slightly in his direction to let him know that I would remember what he had said.

_I'm helping Bella into the room adjacent to yours, Edward. You owe me one._ I briefly smiled to myself. Thank God for Alice.

It was 2:30 am and everybody had retreated to their respective rooms. I could obviously hear them all but I even more obviously chose not to. So to distract myself, I went to the couch and sat down. I put on the television and started surfing through the channels.

I had almost reached the 400's when I heard the door of Bella's room creak open.

"Hey," Bella said as she descended down the stairs looking more like the Greek goddess of beauty than an 18 year old in Rosalie's over-sized night clothes.

"Bella? Is there anything that you might need? Maybe you're hungry? I noticed you didn't eat," I asked her.

"No Edward. I'm good. Danii and I both ate. I just couldn't sleep. Bad dream. Do you mind if I sit beside you here?" she asked shyly, looking at me from underneath her long eyelashes.

"Of course, Bella. Please, go ahead," I said smiling.

"Thank you," she said and sat down beside me.

She was very quiet after that and I started to wonder if Bella had fallen asleep. Just when I was about to turn my head to check, Bella placed her head on my shoulder and her eyelids drooped. I smiled at her beautiful form.

She truly was beautiful, my Bella. Danii had made it clear that Bella's life would be in danger—from me nonetheless—if Bella continued to stay here. But I would make sure that Bella was protected and safe. Even if it meant giving up my own life.

I gently picked up her sleeping form and laid her on her own bed. I pulled the covers over her and just as I turned to go, I noticed that Bella had been holding my hand in hers. She whimpered when I tried to pull away. "Stay..." she mumbled, still sleeping. I sat down by her bed and stroked her shiny brown hair.

"Always Bella."


End file.
